Kiku ya ika ni uwa no sora naru kaze dani mo matsu ni oto suru narai ari to wa - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

聞くやいかにうはの空なる風だにも
まつに音する習ひありとは

Roma-ji: Kiku ya ika ni uwa no sora naru kaze dani mo matsu ni oto suru narai ari to wa
English Translation: Do you hear it, then?
even the fickle wind that blows
high in the empty sky
has the custom of calling
on the pine that waits for it
Meaning: Do you hear it, then? Even the fickle wind that roams the empty sky has the custom of calling with its voice upon the pine that waits.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1199

Headnote: "Love expressed through the wind."
This is the third poem of the sequence on nights spent waiting for one who does not come. She asks whether the lover has heard that even the fickle wind of the empty sky has the custom of calling upon the pine, and reproaches him for not visiting the one who waits. According to the headnote, it was composed on the set topic of love expressed through the wind.
The author, "Kunaikyō," was a daughter of Minamoto no Moromitsu, Provisional Master of the Right Capital Office, and served Retired Emperor Go-Toba. She died young.

The first line, "kiku ya ika ni," means "do you hear, or not?" and has six syllables, one more than the norm. It opens with a forceful question addressed directly to the lover.
In the second line, "uwa no sora naru," "uwa no sora" is a pivot word meaning both "high in the sky" and "a fickle, unsettled heart." The wind in the sky is overlaid with the lover's insincere heart.
The third line, "kaze dani mo," means "even the wind." "Dani" names the lesser case to suggest the greater. In place of the moon of the preceding poem, the wind is sung from here on.
In the fourth line, "matsu ni oto suru," "matsu" is a pivot word meaning both "pine" and "to wait." "Oto su" means both "to make a sound" and "to visit," so the wind sounding in the pine suggests visiting the one who waits.
The last line, "narai ari to wa," means "that there is such a custom." The object of "do you hear" in the first line is placed at the end in inverted order, and the poem presses its reproach with reasoning: if even the fickle wind visits, why do you not come?
Author: Kunaikyo
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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